Ore-concentrator



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

H. R. ELLIS. ORE GONGEINTRATOR.

. Patented Jan. 7, 1896.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2-.

H. R. ELLIS.

ORE UONGENTRATOR.

No. 552,519. Patented Jan. 7, 1896.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcE.

HENRY RIVES ELLIS, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

ORE-CONCENTRATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 552,519, dated January 7, 1896.

Application filed December 1, 1894. Serial No. 530,580. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY RIVES ELLIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, in the county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ore-Concentrators; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

Hy invention relates to ore-concentrators,

- and more particularly to certain improvements in the traveling belt upon which the pulp is distributed and subjected to the action of a supply of water.

It further relates to' means for giving the belt a peculiar circular motion, additional to its longitudinal travel, which, in connection with my improved construction of the beltsurface, will produce a better, more rapid,and generally more effective concentration of the precious particles of the pulp.

In order that those skilled in the art may fully understand the construction and operation of my improved coiiicentrator, I have fully described the same in the following detailed specification, which should be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail crosssection of the belt 011 one of the end rollers. Fig. 4 is a broken plan view of the belt. Fig. 5 is a plan of the eccentric from which the belt derives its circular or gyratory motion. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 7 is a section of the belt through one of the bateas. Fig. 8 is a detail view of universal supports for the belt-frame.

A is the main frame or table supported by legs or standards, and B is the driving-shaft j ournaled in brackets 1 and having a belt-pulley 2. Above the frame or table is mounted the belt-frame 0, having end rollers C over which passes the endless concentrating-belt D. The belt extends down below its frame and through the water-tank E, guide-rollers, as 3 and 4, being provided to give it the proper line of travel. The longitudinal or uphill travel of the belt is derived from the main shaft by suitable gearing. I have shown in Fig. 1 a sprocket-wheel on the shaft of one of the end rollers O. A chain 5 extends vertically to another sprocket 6, secured upon a shaft 7. Bevel-gears S and 9 transmit motion to the sprockets and chain from the main shaft, through the variable-speed cone-pulleys 10 and 11. The speed of the belt can thus be varied as circumstances may require.

The belt D may be constructed of any suitable flexible material, such as rubber or canvas, or a combination of both; or, if desired, it can be composed of a series of transverse slats, flexibly connected together so as to pass over the supporting-pulleys, but adapted to fit tightly, edge to edge, above and between the end rollers; The surface of the belt is formed with a number of bateas or shallow saucer-like depressions 12, placed closely together throughout its extent. These depressions may be formed in any suitable way, as by molding them in the rubber, where rubber or partly rubber belts are used, and they may be of any suitable size and number.

An av erage size will probably be about two inches for diameter and about a quarter of an inch for depth at the center. These bateas act as traps to catch and retain the heavy particles of the pulp, and, as each one of them has a gyratory motion (hereinafter described,) its operation is like that of aminers pan,in which the heavy particles'are concentrated at the bottom by a circular motion, which also expels the water and lighter particles over the edges.

In concentrator-belts, as used at the present day, it is customary to retain the pulp upon the belt by forming raised flanges or rims, which extend continuously along the edges. These flanges are subjected to considerable strain in passing over the end rollers, and are liable to split from their edges down to the solid part of the belt. Instead of forming such a flange upon my belt, its upper surface is made flat from edge to edge.

In order to produce a retaining-flange along that part of the belt actually in operationthat is to say, above the belt-frame and be tween the end-rollers- -l have devised the construction shown in Fig. 3. A series of rollers 13 are loosely journaled in the side timbers of the belt-frame below the belt. The edges of the belt are formed with continuous downwardly-projecting flanges or rims 14, which rest upon these rollers, and as the rollers are cylindrical they raise the edges of the belt the height of the flanges 14 and thus provide the retaining-rims where they are necessary. The end rollers Oare beveled slightlyat their ends, Fig. 2, so that as the belt leaves the rollers 13 the downwardly-projecting flanges can assume their normal position against such beveled ends, and hence are not exposed to any strain in passing around such rollers.

In order to utilize the action of the bateas to the utmost extent, I have provided means for giving a rotary or gyratory motion to the belt-frame,and consequently to all parts of the belt-surface. Figs. 2, 5, and 6, illustrate such device completely. To one of the timbers of the belt-frame are pivoted connecting-rods 15, situated respectively near each end and extending outwardly and horizontally. Each rod is provided at its end with a circular recessed plate 16 having an. open bottom. lVithin the recess is an eccentric 17 having a rectangular slot 18. A shaft 19 passes through this slot and is squared at that point, so that its rotation will turn the eccentric. The eccentric can be adjusted on the shaft by a nut 20 and a rim 21, or lugs may be attached to the plate 16 to hold the eccentric in position. At the lowerend of the shaft 19 is a gear 22 which engages with a like gear upon the main shaft. These two eccentrics working in unison will give a steady circular or gyratory motion to the whole belt-frame and belt, so long as the main shaft is in motion. The belt-frame is supported on the main frame by rods 23, preferably four in number and arranged near the corners, and universally jointed both to the main frame and the beltframe. I prefer to use ball-and-socket joints 24, Fig. 2, which support the belt-frame effectively and allow it absolute freedom to move in the manner before described.

I have shown in Fig. 1 a pulp-distributer F and water-pipe G, the operations of which are Well understood by those skilled in the art. These devices form no part of my invention, and hence a detailed description of their construction and operation is unnecessary. It should also be noted that a belt or surface having bateas and given a motion such as described'could be adapted for amalgamation by very slight modification, and will be found very effective for that purpose.

lVhat I claim is 1. In a concentrator, a belt frame having a series of supporting rollers, in combination with a belt having downwardly projecting edge flanges, substantially as described.

2. In an ore concentrator, the combination with the belt supporting frame, of a flexible belt having downwardly projecting edge flanges, supporting rollers in the frame, upon which said flanges bear in order to cause an up-spring of the edges of the belt, and guiding rollers at the ends of the belt frame, having beveled ends upon which said flanges bear while the belt is changing its direction, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In an ore concentrator a frame, a longitudinally traveling belt supported in the frame so as to have a flat or plane working surface and having independent or disconn ected bateas whose upper edges coincide with the plane of the working surface, distributors for supplying water and pulp to said belt,and means for imparting a gyratory motion to the belt, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 17th day of November, 1894.

HENRY RIVES ELLIS.

\Vitnesses L. IV. SEELY, JOHN COFFEE. 

